Having Faith in the Gospel

Jerry Cook

Leading people to Christ is not the exclusive work of a few well-trained professionals.

Jerry Cook

The gospel is so simple that even a non-Christian can lead another person to Christ. I've known it to happen. A man who has been a member of our church for a number of years was a former drug pusher. He was led to Christ in a free love commune in downtown Portland. A girl from a Spokane commune and this guy were smoking dope together. One day he said to her, "I'd like to be free of this dope."

She was not a Christian but had been raised in a Christian home. She said to him, "I know how you can do that. If you trusted in Jesus as your Saviour, He would deliver you."

He said, "What? What does all that mean?"
She said, "I'm not going to tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because then you'll take off and be a Christian and I won't see you anymore."

He kept prodding her until finally she said, "All right. I'll tell you." She quoted John 3:16 and explained to him how to be saved. He went into the other room, prayed to receive Christ, and was delivered. He walked out of that place and never went back. She stayed and as far as I know is not a Christian to this day. This girl wasn't saved, didn't want to be saved, and didn't want him to be saved. Yet she was able to tell the way of salvation and the power of the gospel saved a man.

You see, the power is in the gospel, not in the presentation or the delivery. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16).

Do you see what our problem is? We who represent the gospel don't have enough faith in its power to believe what Paul said about it. Incredible!

Additional Resources:

"Be Ye Ready" Is No Joking Matter — Many people are not taking it seriously. They talk about it but they are not taking it seriously, and many, many are going to be left behind. They are not ready, and the age of grace is about to end.

How Great is our God — The heavens declare the glory of God. From Canis Majoris to Laminin, we see concrete evidence of God's power, majesty, and love.

Meekness — A story of power out of control that became power under control.

Luke Warm & Loving It — Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really arenít very different from your typical unbeliever.

23 Minutes in Hell — In 1998, the Lord gave Bill Wiese a vision of hell. Hear his testimony and deepen your understanding of what Jesus Christ really did for you. This presentation is the end of 'cheap grace.'

"Don't bother doing well what you shouldn't be doing at all."- Jerry Cook